Walking Ghost
by BlackIce1
Summary: Faye goes to Mars seeking closure. But does she really want it? If you liked the latter half of the show, and if you don't hate Faye, you will like this fic (probably). No pairings, and no original characters.


pWalking Ghost/p  
  
pAuthor's note: This story takes place after the series ends,  
it says how long in the story. There are no pairings. There are  
no original characters who are named. (So far) There is no need  
for any definitions of Japanese words, because Faye doesn't speak  
Japanese. Yeah, just Faye. She's really the only character in  
this fic, and if I do a whole story, she's gonna be the main  
character. I suppose I identify with her a bit, she's in love  
with a guy who doesn't really feel the same way. There's other  
reasons too, I suppose, but I don't want to ramble too long. It  
will suffice to say I have a lot more sympathy for Faye in the  
second half of the sereis. If I get enough reviews, I might  
continue, but I'm gonna say right now that Spike is NOT going to  
ever appear in this. It's hardly that I don't like him, quite the  
opposite. So lets let the poor guy rest in peace, huh? But I  
digress. Insert the usual Don't own the characters or  
setting, never will thing here. /p  
  
pPrologue: Glass Hopes/p  
  
p/p  
  
pI close my eyes and I keep seein' things./p  
  
pRainbow waterfalls, sunny liquid dreams./p  
  
pConfusion creeps inside me rainin' down. /p  
  
pGotta get to you, but I don't know how./p  
  
p/p  
  
pI had your number quite some time ago/p  
  
pback when we were young, but I had to go/p  
  
p10000 years I've searched it seems and now, /p  
  
pgotta get to you, won't ya tell me how?/p  
  
p/p  
  
pWhat can I do? To get me to you?/p  
  
piSelected Lyrics from Call me, Call me, from  
the soundtrack CD Cowboy Bebop: Blue/i/p  
  
pSunset on Mars isn't the same as sunset on Earth, or Ganymede,  
or any other planet with a natural atmosphere. On Mars, where  
only portions of the planet's surface are terraformed, it creeps  
up on you. One minute, it's perfectly light. Then next thing you  
know, it's suddenly deep twilight, and before you know it, it's  
pitch black. The atmosphere's too thin to hold the light and  
reflect it around for very long. /p  
  
pAs Faye Valentine walked quickly along a darkening city  
sidewalk, the scientific details of the rapidly approaching  
darkness were just about the furthest thing from her mind. She  
was a lot more concerned about the trouble it could cause her. At  
night, a woman dressed the way she was walking alone down the  
street looked like easy prey for the reptiles that stalked the  
neither regions of this place. Not that Faye was afraid of  
getting mugged, it was just that she was in a hurry and didn't  
really feel like being bothered./p  
  
piAnyone stupid enough to stop me tonight won't be around to  
bother any other women, at least,/i Faye thought to herself  
smiling slightly and letting her fingers brush across the grip of  
her gun. /p  
  
pBehind her, she heard the faint sound of a footstep. Not  
turning around, she kept walking, idly hoping the person was just  
some drunk. /p  
  
pWell, what have we here? Lookin' for some company,  
sweetheart? an deep, lyrical voice purred from the shadows  
behind her. Faye squared her shoulders and kept walking. /p  
  
pOh, so cold.... the voice was coming from right  
behind her now, and Faye decided that it's owner wasn't planning  
on leaving her alone. She stopped and let her hand drape loosely  
across her holster before looking back at the deep voice's owner./p  
  
pI don't have time for this, she said coldly,  
facing the man. His face was partially obscured by the darkness,  
but Faye could still see that he was extremely good looking. iIf  
I were a younger, looser woman, I would probably have gasped when  
I saw him.../i she thought, grinning to herself. iJust goes  
to show that this isn't some cheesy dime romance novel./i/p  
  
pThe stranger's grin widened slightly./p  
  
pOh, come now, a woman as dazzling as yourself shouldn't  
be out alone this late. There are some bad people out here, you  
know, who would try to take advantage of such a beautiful young  
woman as yourself. Perhaps I should accompany you... he  
gave her what was probably intended to be a dashing smile./p  
  
pIt was completely lost on Faye. If she had been in a better  
mood, she might have played along, just for a bit. Right now,  
though, she didn't really feel like dealing with this./p  
  
pI'm older than I look she simply replied, and  
turned around to walk away again./p  
  
pYou can't be THAT much older...no old maid could have  
such perfect white skin or...er...impressive figure.... he  
was still following her, and Faye was becoming distinctly  
annoyed./p  
  
pLook, buddy, I'm under a lot of stress right now, and  
can't be held responsible for my actions, Faye said  
quietly, turning around again and putting one hand on her hip and  
the other on the grip of her pistol. So I'm just gonna give  
you one warning: go away and find someone else to pick up, or  
risk getting shot right here in the middle of the street!  
she stared coldly at him, daring him to say one more oily line./p  
  
pThe man just looked at her face for a minute, then down to  
where her hand rested on the butt of her gun, then back to her  
face. She watched him carefully, hoping he was smart enough to  
get the message and leave. /p  
  
pFine, fine, I can see you aren't really my type  
anyway... the man said, squaring his shoulders and looking  
away. I was just trying to be helpful.... He looked  
up again and grinned. I mean, a guy can't help but notice a  
hot chick like you! Faye didn't say a word or let her icy  
expression slip an inch as the man winked at her, turned, and  
hurriedly walked off in the opposite direction./p  
  
pAs soon as he was far enough away, Faye sighed, and walked on.  
It was, she reflected, rather ironic that she should be hit on in  
this particular place. How many years ago was it now? How long  
had it been since.../p  
  
pNo, I can't think about it. Not here anyway... she  
said quietly to herself, wrapping her short red coat more closely  
around her shoulders. For once, she wished she had brought a  
larger garment. It was cold this time of year, on this part of  
the planet. A bitter smile touched her lips. iWinter, a  
fitting time of year for a journey like this...Spike probably  
would have thought so too./i/p  
  
pShe faltered for a moment in her hasty walk as his name came  
to her mind. Now matter how hard she tried not to, she always  
found herself thinking like that. It had been the reason she had  
left the bebop, and the reason she had stopped working as a  
bounty hunter./p  
  
pBut that's all in the past...I have to just keep  
moving, she said, continuing in her hurried walk. She was  
almost to her destination: a burned out, abandoned building that  
no one had ever had the guts or the funds to demolish. The upper  
classes of Mars had fallen somewhat from their former glory after  
the Red Dragon syndicate had been all but destroyed a little over  
5 years ago. The papers at the time had said that in a major  
coup, virtually all of the leaders had been killed, and the main  
office destroyed. Faye knew better, but she didn't think it was  
her job to tell anyone. She didn't even want to think about  
herself it back when.../p  
  
pNo! I am inot/i going to think about that!  
Otherwise I'll never be able to do this... she raised a  
hand to her face to brush away the spot of wetness that had  
somehow gotten there. She couldn't break down yet, not when she  
was so close.../p  
  
pAs tense and out of sorts as she was as she continued her  
brisk walk through the streets of the city, she occasionally took  
note of the buildings she passed. Most were vacant and close to  
falling over, but here and there a dim light could be seen where  
a stray squatter had decided to try to find some shelter from the  
winter night. As she drew closer to her target, however, the  
occasional glints from the dingy broken windows became few and  
fewer. The streets were empty, dark, and silent. iLike a  
graveyard.../i She shook her head again, ino, no, NO! Stop  
that! /iFaye squared her shoulders, and walked on, determined  
not to think about anything until she was sure she was ready. /p  
  
pFinally, she reached the front of the hulking structure,  
wincing at the sheer volume of destruction. The main entrance was  
a mess of twisted metal and cracked stone, and looking up Faye  
could see several twisted girders silhouetted against the moonlit  
sky like broken claws. iAnd to think one man caused all  
this...I wish I could have been here to see it...to fight beside  
him,... /ishe blinked, trying hard to keep her memories out.  
After studying the entrance for a moment, she carefully moved the  
bent doorframe aside and walked gingerly into the silent  
building. Blinking in the darkness, even deeper than the night  
outside, she pulled out her lighter and flicked on the tiny  
flame. She almost dropped it at the scene that flashed to life  
before her, and she was forced to shut her eyes for a moment to  
collect herself. It wasn't like she'd never seen a dead body  
before, but something about a skeleton half berried in twisted  
metal.... For what seemed like the hundredth time that night, she  
shook her head to clear it. Looking away from  
the...spectacle...she managed to find the corridor that led to  
the right, holding her lighter as far out ahead of her as she  
could. The flame flickered and bounced as she walked, and a faint  
scent of the gas that it burned occasionally washed over her. iA  
single flame, trying to push out the darkness, but doomed to burn  
out sooner or later, and leave it's owner stranded and helpless  
in the dark.../i Fay shook her head, trying with some  
difficulty to rid herself of such morbid thoughts. She had to do  
what she came here for first, then she could cry all night if she  
wanted to. iThat's what I need to keep telling myself, at  
least./i She walked on down the hall, hoping the 7-year-old  
schematic she'd found on the Web was still accurate. Sometimes,  
she missed having Ed around to find things like that. Faye had  
never really cared for computers, and especially not the Web. The  
idea of losing oneself in a world that didn't even exist just  
seemed so....futile./p  
  
pFinally, she came to the doorway that was suppose to lead to  
the stairs, and pushed hard on the handle. The heavy metal door  
refused to budge, some heavy object barring it from the other  
side. Gritting her teeth, Faye got a firm grip on the handle and  
put down her lighter, plunging her into complete darkness. She  
pushed with all her might on the door and handle, but after  
several minutes of straining in the pitch black, it hadn't moved  
an inch. /p  
  
pCome on, move! she whispered harshly, standing  
back and kicking the handle hard. /p  
  
p she screamed, when it still refused to open,  
and drew her pistol. Aiming in what she assumed was the direction  
of the door, she began firing, taking out her hopeless  
frustration on the inanimate sheet of metal that she couldn't  
even see in the dark hallway. The metallic twang of the bullets  
slicing through the thick metal was like thunder rolling though  
the silent building, but Faye didn't care. After she emptied the  
clip, she kept on pulling the trigger for a few minutes, then  
fell heavily to the floor. She barely noticed the tears that were  
now streaming down her face. If she couldn't reach the top floor  
there was no point to her even coming here. /p  
  
pAfter a few moments of sitting dejectedly, Faye realized that  
she'd forgotten, in her outburst, what she'd done with her  
lighter. She shakily got up and began to search the floor near  
the door. After several moments of fumbling in the dark, she gave  
up. Sitting back down, she was nearly ready to give up hope when  
she noticed a faint light coming from just a little way down the  
hall. Cautiously, reloading her pistol and keeping it handy, she  
got up and walked towards it. After a moment or two, she rounded  
a corner to find that the light was coming from behind a mangled  
piece of metal set into the wall. Faye slowly approached, and  
took a closer look. After a moment, she realized with a surge of  
hope that it was the door of the elevator, and the light must be  
coming from the elevator shaft. Usually, there was a ladder  
inside an elevator shaft for emergencies, and it just might take  
her all the way to the roof. Carefully, she maneuvered the heavy  
door out of the way, and squatted down so she could see up  
farther into the shaft. Soft blue light filtered down from the  
apex, where the roof seemed to be missing, and the lower reaches  
were lost in deep shadow. Faye didn't give the depths a second  
thought, looking only up to where she needed to go. Keeping one  
hand clenched tightly on the edge of the opening, she leaned out  
into the space and tested the hand rails that went up the side of  
the shaft. They seemed secure enough, and she lightly jumped out  
into the shaft, grabbing hold of the rails with her other hand  
and resting her feet on them as well. Slowly, carefully, she made  
her way up the long shaft, painstakingly testing each rail before  
trusting her weight to it. It wouldn't do for her to fall and die  
so close to reaching her goal. As she made her slow, laborious  
way up, she could see the night sky through the broken off  
ceiling of the shaft. Every now and then the lights of a ship  
could be seen passing by, but Faye hardly noticed. Finally, at  
what must have been the 18th floor, she stopped to  
rest a minute, and looked back down into the darkness she had  
come from. iIt's like looking down into the underworld... /ishe  
thought, iI've climbed up from hell. /iShe turned her gaze  
to the open roof. iI wonder if heaven is waiting for me up  
there? /iAs she thought about that, she felt her anticipation  
intensify. She almost couldn't believe she was so close. iThis  
is it, this is where I finally find my answer. /iShe looked  
down again, closing her eyes against the endless seeming black  
void. iThis is where I either find a shred of hope or a  
universe of despair.../i /p  
  
pSlowly, she began climbing up the elevator shaft again, trying  
to calm her growing apprehension by thinking about how she came  
to be here in the first place. When she had first heard of...the  
incident...she hadn't been able to believe it, which was  
something she had never quite understood. When he had left the  
Bebop that last time, she had known what was going to happen to  
him. She had known, she realized, for a long time. Spike simply  
didn't care enough about wether he lived or died. After five  
years of trying to figure it out, Faye still didn't entirely  
understand why. She supposed it had something to do with Julia,  
and Vicious, and the Red Dragons, but she'd never had the heart  
to ask Jet about it before she'd left. Faye had still known,  
though. That was why he she had begged him so desperately not to  
leave that last time, but he'd gone anyway, presumably to meet  
his destiny. iAfter all, he was in love with Julia, not me./i  
After he left, she had resigned herself to it, and realized and  
understood that it was all for Julia, his lost love. iWhat is  
it with men and lost loves?/i And then...she had seen the  
report about...it...on the web, and...something inside of her had  
snapped, she supposed. For weeks afterward, she hadn't left her  
room on the ship, even to eat. Her past coming back to her,  
Spike....it was all too much. So she'd just hidden in her room,  
trying to forget everything else. Faye's memory of that time was  
hazy at best, but she remembered crying, sometimes, and not  
sleeping often. Eventually, she'd come to her senses, somewhat,  
and tried to go back to her old life. Jet had been quiet as she'd  
gone about her business on the ship; she supposed he just didn't  
have the heart to tell her to get lost. In the end, he hadn't  
needed to anyway. One day, out of the blue, she'd simply taken  
all of her ammo and loaded it into the Redtail, and left. She'd  
come back to the Bebop before because it was the only place she  
had to go. After Spike was gone, though, she'd realized that it  
wasn't really the Bebop she'd needed, it was him. She had never  
consciously thought, while he was still...working with her...that  
she felt something for him. When he was suddenly gone, though,  
she had realized how accustomed she had become to having him  
around, how much she relied on him. In the haze of pain and  
loneliness she found herself lost in, Faye had desperately needed  
something to cling to, something to keep her going. She'd heard  
all the news reports, she'd read all the papers, and all of them  
had different reports. All of them had large numbers of  
casualties for the event, but not one of them had mentioned a  
person who fit Spike's description. Her confused, desperate mind  
had taken this and run with it, and by the time she left the  
Bebop, she had nearly managed to convince herself that he must be  
alive. After getting away and trying to figure everything out,  
she had realized that of course that was foolish; he couldn't  
possibly have survived. No matter how many times she told herself  
that, though, she could never really believe it. Finally, she had  
decided that the only thing for it was to go to Mars and go to  
the place where...it had all happened. It had taken her five  
years to get up the nerve to come here, and now she was so close.  
There might not be anything left on that top floor for her to  
find, but she had to look. She had to see for herself. /p  
  
piYou're hoping too much. You know that you won't see what  
you want to,/i she berated herself as she climbed higher, her  
arms beginning to strain in the chill air. /p  
  
pAfter what seemed like hours of climbing, Faye finally reached  
the end of the shaft. She looked up over the edge of the wall to  
see the lights of city ranged about, and the high walls of the  
terraformed valley looming darkly beyond them, lit here and there  
with a warning light for incoming ships. Most of the area closest  
to the building was dark, as though it had some sort of dark aura  
that prevented the living from approaching it. /p  
  
piHow fitting that I'm here. /iFaye though, smiling  
bitterly, iAfter all, I'm just a walking ghost./i/p  
  
pSlowly, she climbed up out of the hole, taking a moment to  
look down into the shadows below her. The opening she had entered  
by was lost in deep shadow now, and she doubted that she could  
find it again. Not giving it a second thought, she turned to see  
what was laid out before her. /p  
  
pFrom what was left, the room seemed to have been some sort of  
audience hall. There was a raised dias with stairs leading up to  
it facing the area Faye was standing in, and the tattered remains  
of fine carpets and curtains were strewn here and there. Slowly,  
she walked towards the steps, shivering not just from the chill  
wind whistling though the ragged remains of the room's walls. She  
walked forward until she was nearly on the stairway, and there  
she stopped, too shaken to move any farther. /p  
  
pThere were no physical remains, at least. That would have  
completely destroyed her. All that was left was a scrap of blue  
fabric, pinned firmly under the butt of a weathered, rusted  
pistol, lying on one of the steps. A person looking wouldn't even  
have noticed it, but Faye did. And she knew, just from that, that  
she had been right in the beginning, that all of her wild,  
desperate hope had been in vain. And she had been hoping, she  
realized, though she didn't know what she was hoping for. Slowly,  
she sank to her knees, wrapping her arms tightly around her  
waist. /p  
  
pHe's....he's gone./p  
  
pWhen the sun rose the next day, she was still there, still in  
the same position./p  
  
pbr  
br  
/p  
  
pGlass hopes shatter easily./p  
  
pbr  
/p  
  
pAN: Well, that's it so far. Rather sad, I suppose, but what  
are ya gonna do? I do have a sort of plot, but it's rather  
rudimentary right now. To tell the truth, this is the first  
fanfic I've ever posted, I don't usually have the energy to write  
fanfiction. (I'm more of an artist than a writer). But who knows,  
I feel inspired. If you liked it, review so I'll have the  
self-esteem to write more. Hell, if enough people like it, maybe  
I'll turn it into a fan-manga. That might be fun. Although...then  
I'd have to draw Faye in all her...er....undersized  
outfit?..glory, and since I don't happen to be a guy....hmm...  
Well, anyway, just tell me what you think. Yes, yes I know I'm  
nuts. /p 


End file.
